Data theft on mobile compute devices is becoming a growing concern for many companies and users. There are numerous ways in which systems, such as hardware systems and software systems, of mobile compute devices can be exploited by hardware and software attacks, such as by malicious computer programs that are received over the Internet or other communication networks. For example, low-cost cold-boot and side-channel attacks have been demonstrated as capable of stealing valuable information stored in the memory of mobile compute devices, such as hard-drive encryption keys, personal data, and intellectual property.
To protect the memory of mobile compute device from physical attacks, new technologies like Total Memory Encryption (TME) has been developed. In such technologies, all data directed to off-chip memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and non-volatile random access memory (RAM), is encrypted. To provide full security, the entire memory range of the main memory of the mobile compute device is encrypted at all times. However, such encryption strategies can have a negative impact to the overall performance and/or user experience of the mobile compute device.